Ghanaian champions Kumasi Asante Kotoko begin a journey to redeem clouts on the African continent as they take on Sony Elá Nguema on Sunday

Two-time African champions Kumasi Asante Kotoko are making a return to continental club football after four seasons and their campaign begins with a tie against the Equatorial Guinea champions Sony Elá Nguema at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium.

The away team does not carry weight on the continent with their best performance being appearances at the group stage of the competition.

But the Porcupine Warriors do not want to take chances as they remain desperate to be counted not by history but by current form on the continent.

The Porcupine Warriors had a great domestic campaign last season after winning the cup with three matches to spare.

But the coach who led them, plus some of the key players have left, perhaps that explains their inconsistent domestic campaign this term.

Maxwell Konadu after winning the title joined the Black Stars technical team while Daniel Nii Adjei and Yaw Frimpong have joined TP Mazembe.

Ben Acheampong is now at Atletico in Angola while Abdul Rahman Baba moved to Greuther Furth in Germany.

Kotoko coach Mas-Ud Dramani was under pressure getting to the end of the first round of the Ghana Premier League as fans continued to raise eyebrows about the team’s inconsistency.

The bronze medal winning coach at last year’s Fifa Under-17 Women’s World Cup did not supervise their recruitments and pre-season, but managed to push the team to the third position after the first 15 matches in the Ghanaian top flight.

He will be counting on the likes of Sulaima Abdoulaye, Rashid Sumaila, Kofi Nti Boakye and Michael Helegbe.

Even though their opponents have no scary record on the continent, the Equatorial Guinea champions could be dangerous.

A lot of their players play for the Equatorial Guinea national team and that international experience cannot be underestimated.

But Kotoko are still clear favourites to make it to the next round of the preliminary stage.They have won the title twice in 1970 and 1983.